Burley 21 Tobacco

As the first tobacco cultivar with resistance to wildfire bacteria, ‘Burley 21’ was an important development, taking many years and the cooperative work of public and private organizations to accomplish.^[1,2] Classified as an “air-cured” Burley-type tobacco, ‘Burley 21’ grows five to six feet in height. Its leaves are large (eleven inches wide by twenty-six long), and historically used for cigarette and pipe tobacco blending. ‘Burley 21’ combines disease resistance with good standup tobacco-type; high quality, and high-yielding potential.

‘Burley 21’ was developed from a complex series of crosses and back-crosses^[3] which included the species Nicotiana longiflora for its resistance to wildfire bacteria, and Nicotiana glutinosa for its resistance to tobacco mosaic virus of the local-lesion type. By the time that it was stabilized and released for planting in 1955, eight generations of selfing had been accomplished. Refer to the informational references tab for information on its development team.

Our seed was originally sent to us by David Pendergrass from Middle Tennessee and originated from USDA accession number PI 552363, which entered their collection in 1961.